FRANKLIN TWP. — Township resident Anna Piparo recently returned home after spending three weeks at an intensive three week training program that offers students a window into the world of opera.

Only 30 students nationwide were selected to participate in the Washington National Opera's (WNO) 16th annual Opera Institute at American University. The program, selects some of the most talented vocal students to work rigorously for three weeks developing their craft. The students also gain significant performance experience during the program, culminating in a final performance on the Kennedy Center's Millennium Stage on Saturday, July 12. The performance can be viewed online at kennedy-center.org/explorer/videos/?id=M5921 Anna is in a scene that starts at about 30 minutes into the recording.

Anna, 16, will be entering her senior year at Mount Saint Dominic Academy in Caldwell in the fall. She has appeared in many stage productions at school and with local theater groups. She is also a member of Centaurs 4-H Club and won many awards for public speaking and for her knowledge of horses.

Anna and the other students lived on the campus of American University for the extent of the three-week program. During their time students learned from WNO staff members, American University music faculty, and other opera professionals. They received personalized vocal instruction as well as lessons in opera history, acting, Italian diction and movement. Those skills are a crucial part of any collegiate music school or conservatory's education, giving these students a distinct advantage when applying to such programs.

A taste of "real life" as an opera singer was offered in master classes and seminars with leading opera professionals. Master class teachers this year included critically acclaimed artists such as soprano Harolyn Blackwell, baritone Richard Stilwell, baritone Ron Raines (a Tony nominated star of the Kennedy Center's production of Follies), baritone Tom Pedersen (head of the musical theater division at Catholic University), soprano and renowned vocal educator Sarah Hoover, and acclaimed mezzo-soprano Elizabeth Bishop, star of WNO's forthcoming production of Dialogues of the Carmelites. Other opera professionals and WNO staff presented on topics such as vocal health, breath support and audition preparation while providing professional mentoring to the students.

"WNO Opera Institute gives teenage singers a unique look at the world they want to enter as adults," said Kennedy Center Vice President of Education Darrell M. Ayers. "It is one of the few programs for high school students that provides training not only in musical technique and performance, but also on what it means to be a professional in this field."

WNO Opera Institute is the only summer program for high-school age students supported by a major opera company. In the program's 16-year history it has drawn students from all across the world; nearly all participants go on to pursue degrees in vocal performance, many at leading conservatories around the country.

The students chosen to participate this year came from 13 different states and Puerto Rico, and included 15 sopranos, 5 mezzo-sopranos, 4 tenors, and 6 baritones and basses.